bssid command for macOS

Once upon a time, you can specify a BSSID to connect by doing airport -A=ssid -BSSID=bssidname -password=password, which is no longer supported.

this bssid provide a simple way to list BSSID and connect to one

Usage

# list BSSID given a SSID

bssid scan # this will list all visible BSSID

bssid scan <ssid1> <ssid2> # only show result of <ssid1> and <ssid2>


# connect to BSSID, will prompt for password
bssid connect <bssid>

# For 10.15 or above users, get over by specifying SSID and channel number instead
bssid connect --ssid <ssid>
bssid connect --ssid <ssid> --channel <channelNumber>

Build

# Building
make
# or
swift build

# Install
make install
# or symlink to wherever you like
ln -fs PATH_TO_LOCAL_REPOSITORY/.build/x86_64-apple-macosx/debug/bssid /usr/local/bin/
# for m1 user would be
ln -fs $(PWD)/.build/arm64-apple-macosx/debug/bssid /usr/local/bin/

For people using macOS 10.15 or above

TL;DR

Ping me or send me PR if you know how to get CoreWLAN returning BSSID ;) It looks like Apple's problem. Use SSID and channel number instead.

What does not work**

Signing the app

Some suggests starting from 10.15, Apple seemed to change the policy on getting bssid that you need a developer account to sign the executable to get BSSID, otherwise you only get empty return.

# If you have a developer account
codesign --entitlements bssid.entitlements -s 'Your identity' ./.build/x86_64-apple-macosx/debug/bssid
# Seems you can also sign and run locally
codesign --force --sign - --entitlements bssid.entitlements --timestamp=none ./.build/x86_64-apple-macosx/debug/bssid

Requesting location permission

Some users suggested requiring location information in order to get location but some reported it did not work

https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/124189